Southern Pine: What’s Next?

Southern Pine: What’s Next? ~

Southern Pine: What’s Next? ~

The American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC) held a
meeting on Thursday, January 5, to hear feedback from lumber
producers, users, and other affected parties regarding a
proposal to reduce the key strength values of Southern Pine
lumber.
The Southern Pine Inspection Bureau (SPIB), tasked with
third-party verification and lumber strength testing in the
Southern Pine industry, has proposed a reduction of 25 to 30
percent in published values for deflection and ultimate
strength for all grades and sizes of 2x dimension lumber in the
Southern Pine market, after testing of hundreds of Number Two
2x4 specimens showed a significant decline in the strength of
the 2x4 stock. If the published values for lumber engineering
characteristics are revised downward, that will result in a
reduction of allowable spans in official span tables for
Southern Pine, which will affect builders, framers, and deck
builders. Reduction in the strength values for 2x lumber would
also have a major impact in the wood truss industry.
In reaction to SPIB’s proposal, other voices in the
industry are urging a slower and more carefully considered
response to the new test values — saying that
it’s too early to make a broad modification before
other sizes and grades of Southern Pine have been
comprehensively tested, that a revision of grading practices
rather than a change in span tables might be a better way to
adjust, and that time should be allowed to phase in any
modifications so as not to disrupt projects already in the
pipeline.
The current, existing engineering values and span tables for
Southern Pine were set back in the 1980s after an industry-wide
“In-Grade” testing program, which involved at
least six years of lumber testing in all sizes and grades, and
another four years of industry discussion and negotiation about
grade rules and engineering values. This time around, only one
size and grade of Southern Pine has yet to undergo a
comprehensive series of tests, and only a few months have
passed since those test values were made public. But a full
program of sampling and testing of other sizes and grades has
now begun — not just for Southern Pine, but for other
major wood species (including Western lumber such as Douglas
Fir, and Eastern pine, spruce, and fir). The Board of Directors
of the ALSC has the authority to adopt an immediate change to
Southern Pine engineering values if it so chooses; but given
the incomplete information on the table today and the
far-reaching consequences of any sudden change, it appears more
likely that the ALSC will wait to learn more about the
nation’s lumber stock before adopting a comprehensive
revision.